UK Publication Date: 3 Mar 2016. 496 pages.
If you watched the recent television series about O J Simpson you’ll be interested to know it was based on this book. Originally published less than a year after the infamous verdict this book has been re-released to tie in the show.
In almost 500 pages you get more detail than you could ever imagine about the circumstances of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Toobin writes at a level that assumes the reader can follow some complex strategies and concepts but does not lapse into too much of the legal jargon that could so easily bury a book of this type.
Some of the details are quite heart breaking like the transcript of the messages left on the home answerphone by eight year old Sydney Simpson who asked to make a phone call and dialled home. “Mommy, please call me back. I want to know what happened last night. Why did we have to go to the police station? Please answer Mommy. Please answer, Mommy. Please answer, Mommy. Please answer. Bye.”
Toobin treads a very delicate line in giving as much detail about the case as possible while remembering that two innocent people were murdered. The historic background information about the corruption and racial prejudices in the LAPD are fascinating reading. Whether you watched the show or not it is an interesting background read on one of the most interesting murder trials in recent years.
Supplied by Net Galley and Random House UK in exchange for an honest review.
